


But Shit It Was 99 Cents

by youngavengerfeels



Category: Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bucky only encourages it, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Steve is a pain in the ass to shop with
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-02-27
Packaged: 2018-09-27 05:12:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9973334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youngavengerfeels/pseuds/youngavengerfeels
Summary: Steve blames the fact that mannequins look too damn realistic these days.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So this is probably the shortest and most quickly written fic I have written but I saw a post on tumblr and knew I had to write it for Stucky. Let me know what you think!

Steve hated shopping for clothes. Nothing in the Men’s section ever fit him right and while his wallet appreciated that kid's clothing was cheaper, his pride did not take the hit well. It wasn’t like Steve didn’t know he was small, he would have to be delusional to think otherwise. It was just that his size didn’t really feel like that big of a deal other than when he was clothes shopping or trying to reach anything on the top shelf. 

Fashion wasn’t really something that Steve was concerned about to begin with. Cheap and effective were normally his only criteria. He also prefered to buy his clothes from thrift shops than department stores. Not only were the clothes cheaper but it was more environmentally friendly to go pre-owned. It could be difficult to find things worth buying  but in a city like Brooklyn as long as you had patience you could normally score a good haul by thrifting. 

Steve also didn’t feel the need to buy new clothes every season. If it still fit and didn’t have too many holes it stayed in Steve’s wardrobe, the fashion industry be damned. The winter coat he had thrifted a couple years ago was good enough even if it was out of style and a little worn out. Natasha had also rolled her eyes when he would show up to hang out wearing the coat, shivering a little bit from the cold that creeped in through the holes in the coat. 

When the coat finally fell apart it felt like the end of an era. Natasha celebrated while Steve mourned. Steve would have been perfectly happy to suffer a little while he waited for a good coat to show up in one of the thrift shops he frequented but after he came down with a nasty case of pneumonia from not dressing properly he was willing to give in to Natasha’s begging to take him shopping. 

That’s how Steve ended up wandering around department stores with Natasha looking for a good coat. Well Steve was looking for a coat. Natasha seemed to be taking this as a chance to pressure Steve into buying a whole new wardrobe. 

“You’re 26 not 96. Maybe consider jeans instead of khakis or corduroys,” Natasha almost begged holding an armful of skinny jeans. Steve was dubious that the jeans would do anything other than make his already skinny legs look even more like twigs.  

“I’m offended on the behalf of old men everywhere,” Steve scowled although he gave in and tried on a pair of jeans and was surprised to find they actually made his flat ass look a little less flat. 

He should have known better to admit that to Natasha though because she had just gotten that manically grin and it became her personal mission to get Steve to try on way more clothes than he needed. They had only been shopping for two hours and Steve was already getting tired of being her personal Ken doll. He had yet to even try on a single coat. 

While Natasha was picking out shirts that were probably way more expensive than Steve wanted to think about, Steve snuck away to try and actually find the item he had come here for. 

Steve was overall disappointed with the selection of winter coats. None of them really fit him and all of the kids coats were too kiddish for Steve to be able to pull off although he would have rocked that bright pink coat with the fur fringe. He was starting to discouraged when he saw a mannequin down the aisle wearing a distressed army green winter coat. It looked perfect; lots of pockets and very warm. 

Steve went up to the mannequin and starting feeling the inside of the coat to test the material. He ran one hand on the inside of the coat and the other inside side one of the pockets to see how deep they were.The mannequin was the best looking mannequin Steve had ever seen almost looking like a person instead of creepy humanoid plastic, which made all the more terrifying when the mannequin moved. Steve was not proud of the high pitched shriek that came out of his mouth.

“What the fuck?” The guy Steve had just been feeling up yelled. Steve jumped back, face red with embarrassment. 

“I’m so sorry I thought you were a mannequin and I really like your coat,” Steve tried to explain backing up a little bit. 

“Well I’m not a fucking mannequin,” the man said harshly. Steve wouldn’t blame the guy for punching him if he did, but he really didn’t want to get punched right now. His last black eye had just healed and he wasn’t really itching for a new one. 

“Steve are you alright?’ Natasha said heels clacking as he hurried toward him. Steve almost sagged with relief when he saw her, knowing his chances of getting punch had decreased significantly. “Oh! I see you found Bucky who also needed a fashion intervention. I figured if I was going to help you, I might as well invite Bucky who could stand to get some new things himself,” She said visibly relaxing. Bucky also relaxed, angry facing smoothing out into a smile and then a laugh. 

“My style is fine thank you very much,” Bucky said. “Did she drag you here too?” He asked giving Steve a knowing look. 

“Yeah, my winter coat finally died and she managed to convince be to bite the bullet and buy new. Although you’re wearing the only coat that I’ve seen that I like, where did you get it?” Steve asked.

“At the Goodwill closest to my apartment. It was such a score, only $10,” Bucky said grinning with the pride that came with a good thrifting find. 

“You like to thrift?” Steve said not able to help smiling back. This guy was getting better by the seond now that he wasn’t glowering at Steve. 

“Yeah. Why pay retail prices for a shirt that a million other people are going to have? Also it takes 1,800 gallons of water to grow the cotton for a new pair of jeans. That doesn’t even take into account the water it takes to process the cotton and make the jeans,” Bucky said hands flying as he talked. Steve thought he was actually going to swoon. This guy got it. Also Steve couldn’t help but appreciate how good he looked while he talked passionately about the environmental ethics of buying clothes. The guy was smart and good looking. 

“Bucky! Don’t encourage him,” Natasha hissed elbowing Bucky in the side. She had sat through too many of Steve’s rants to want to do it again in a department store. 

“No he has a point Nat. The way clothes are produced are seriously questionable. The amount of resources that go into just making the clothes let alone the transportation of all the materials is insane. And the workers! There is no way these jeans cost this much to make yet the people who actually make them are living off of only a couple of dollars a day. It’s just not ethical,” Steve said.

“Macklemore would be proud of you two fashion challenged dorks” Natasha said annoyed, knowing what defeat looked like. “This is the last time I try to help you two get some decent clothes,” Natasha mumbled while turning on her heel and walking away. 

“Want to go get drinks and continue to talk about the shortcomings of the fashion industry?” Bucky asked turning to Steve.  

“Sure as long as I can buy you a drink to make up for thinking you were a mannequin,” Steve said.

“Don’t even worry about it. It’s going to make a great story to tell when people ask how we met,” Bucky said leading Steve toward the exit. 

So even though Steve didn’t get a new coat he considered the day a success since he managed to find himself a new boyfriend instead and besides the best jackets were the ones you ‘borrowed’ from your boyfriend anyway. 

 


End file.
